


the sun is going down

by daisyhaechan



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Cuddling, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee Are Best Friends, M/M, One Shot, Pre-Relationship, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:55:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24206293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisyhaechan/pseuds/daisyhaechan
Summary: Mark can't fall asleep.--He had a sudden flashback to the two of them, ages 16 and 15, falling asleep on the saggy couch in the practice room, skinny limbs all tangled together, hair in mouths, so close that for a moment Donghyuck forgot he was one person. They were a single entity— four eyes, four legs, four ears. Their chests rose and fell in sync, Donghyuck’s forehead pressed into Mark’s shoulder and Mark’s legs entrapping his own.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 8
Kudos: 161





	the sun is going down

**Author's Note:**

> This didn't really go where I wanted it to, and I was thinking about not posting it, but I really wanted Markhyuck hurt/comfort, and I thought some people might want to read. So :)

There were only twenty minutes left until they had to leave for practice, and Donghyuck still hadn’t had any breakfast.

He pouted at Taeil from his spot on the kitchen counter, swinging his legs like a child. “I’m hungry.”

Taeil pointed his spatula at him and said, “Maybe you should have made your own breakfast instead of coming to our dorm and begging me for scrambled eggs.”

Donghyuck sighed dramatically. “Nobody loves me.”

“Oh, shush,” Taeil said, finally turning off the stove and scraping the eggs onto a plate. Donghyuck sat up straight and held his arms out to receive the plate, but Taeil took a bite before handing it to him.

“Hey!” he shouted, indignant.

Taeil went to sit on the couch next to Jaehyun and Yuta, and Donghyuck ate his eggs. Soon after he’d finished, Jungwoo appeared, and then, right as they were about to leave, Mark. He stumbled into the living room with his hair dripping wet, wearing a faded sweatshirt and his round glasses, and Donghyuck could tell he was exhausted.

Of course he noticed. He always did. If Mark was in the room, Donghyuck automatically gravitated towards him if he wasn’t paying enough attention. His senses were turned up to eleven when Mark was involved. It had always been like that, ever since they were kids.

He hopped off the counter to go pester Mark into telling him why he hadn’t slept, but their manager opened the door. “Car’s waiting,” he said.

They all filed out the door, Yuta’s arm slung around Mark’s shoulders.

At practice, Mark kept making mistakes. He spun left when he should’ve gone right, went to the floor a beat too early, even skipped an entire four count of choreography. When they finished running through the second song for the fifth time, Taeyong stopped the music.

“Okay, I know we’re all tired, but we need to get through this practice. The energy’s really low right now, guys.”

Donghyuck peered at Mark out of the corner of his eye. He took off his glasses to run a hand through his hair, uncomfortably shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

When no one responded, Taeyong sighed. “Take five.”

They broke rank.

Mark collapsed to the floor, back against the mirror, and pulled his knees into his chest. Donghyuck followed, sinking down beside him. Mark didn't seem to notice.

“Hey,” Donghyuck said.

Mark opened his eyes. “Hey.”

“You seem kinda out of it.”

Mark let his shoulders droop, dropping his chin into his hand. “I can’t sleep.”

Donghyuck frowned. “You slept in this morning.”

“I mean, I can’t sleep when I’m tired. When I need to sleep.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” Mark said, frustratedly running his fingers through his hair. “Whenever my head touches the pillow, my eyes just won’t shut. I couldn’t fall asleep until six a.m. last night, and then I woke up at eight. I fell asleep standing up in the shower.”

Donghyuck hummed, thinking. “Have you tried drinking tea?”

Mark looked at him. “Yes, Haechan, I tried tea.”

“Hey! I’m trying to be helpful,” Donghyuck said, defensive.

Mark sighed. “I know. I know, I just… I don’t know what else to do. I’m exhausted.”

Donghyuck watched the slope of his shoulders, the droop of his eyelids, and put a hand on his head. He ruffled his hair affectionately as Mark scowled at him, reaching up and grabbing his wrist to stop him. Their hands fell into Mark’s lap together, and Donghyuck swallowed. “I’ll help you.”

“Break’s over!” Taeyong yelled from the middle of the room, and everyone started to gather back together. Donghyuck stood, extending a hand to Mark to help him up. He took it.

“What can you do?” Mark asked.

“I have my ways,” Donghyuck said. “Trust me. I’ll be in your dorm at nine p.m. sharp.”

—

True to his word, Donghyuck knocked on the upper floor dorm’s door at 9 o’clock. Jaehyun opened the door.

“Why do you have all that?” he asked, scanning Donghyuck from head to toe.

He held a mug, a tea bag, his softest blanket, several stuffed animals, a white noise machine, a sleeping mask, and his laptop (with a headphone splitter, of course).

Donghyuck just sniffed as he stepped inside. “We’re having a sleepover.”

Jaehyun blinked, closing the door and locking it with a small click. “Why? You’re with each other, like, every day.” He didn't bother to ask who; he already knew.

“For fun,” Donghyuck said, and stepped into the kitchen to search for the tea kettle. He filled it with water and turned it on. Waiting for it to boil, he rummaged around in the drawers. “Jaehyun-hyung?” he called.

“What?” Jaehyun yelled back from the living room.

“Where do you people keep your honey?”

“Uh… second cabinet next to the fridge.”

The cup of chamomile tea was done soon, and Donghyuck carried it and his computer to Mark’s room down the hall.

Thankfully, their manager wasn’t sleeping at the dorms that night. His bed was empty. Mark was sitting on top of his wearing a soft t-shirt and pajama pants, guitar in his lap, but looked up when Donghyuck entered. His fingers stilled on the frets. “Oh,” he said. “You came.”

“Uh, yeah,” Donghyuck said, setting the cup of tea down on the bedside table and throwing his computer onto Mark’s bed. “Obviously. Wait here, I have more stuff.”

Mark’s guitar was zipped back into its case when Donghyuck returned with everything else and plopped it onto the bed in a heap. He started picking them apart as Mark drank his tea, despite his protests that he’d tried it and it hadn’t helped. “We’re doing everything possible to make these the ideal sleeping conditions,” Donghyuck told him. “Stop arguing.”

When everything was sorted out, Donghyuck turned off the overhead lights, leaving the lamp on, and plopped onto the bed beside Mark. Mark made a confused noise.

“First step: watch TV.”

“How is that supposed to make me fall asleep?”

Donghyuck huffed. “It’s not. We’re waiting until later to actually go to bed, dummy.”

“Why?”

“It’s better if you’re more tired. It’ll reset your sleep schedule.”

Mark gave in, shifting around under the covers to make himself comfortable. Donghyuck connected both their earbuds to his laptop and opened Netflix, clicking on some rom-com that popped up.

As they neared the third episode, Donghyuck became aware of Mark’s heavy breathing next to him and tilted his head to see if his eyes were closed. They weren’t, and the two of them made eye contact. “Can we go to sleep now?” Mark begged.

“Okay,” Donghyuck said. “Okay. Sure.”

He sat up to fetch his other things, and arranged his blanket (the one his cousin got him for Christmas that was the softest thing he’d ever felt) around Mark, tucking him in up to his shoulders. He’d already made sure the air conditioning was turned up so they could pile blankets without overheating. He randomly threw the stuffed animals onto Mark, letting him choose one, and then bent over the side of the bed to plug in the white noise machine. It was a little round thing, with cute buttons on the side to choose the mode and volume. He chose rain for now.

When he lay back down, Mark had taken his glasses off and was laying on his side.

“Take this,” Donghyuck said, handing him the sleeping mask. It was pink and fuzzy, with little eyes drawn on. Mark frowned at it before sighing and putting it on. Taking one last glance around to make sure everything was set up, Donghyuck turned off the lamp. The room was plunged into darkness.

“Feeling sleepy?” he whispered.

Mark grumbled, and Donghyuck hoped that was a yes.

But who knows how long later, and the sheets were rustling every thirty seconds. He tried to ignore it, sure that Mark would exhaust himself eventually, but the noise didn't stop.

“Hyuck?” he whispered into the dark. “I don’t think this is working.”

Donghyuck sighed and opened his eyes. Mark was on his side facing him, face mask pulled up onto his forehead and making his hair stick out at odd angles. His eyes were wide and apologetic, almost sparkling in the minimal light.

“I can’t fall asleep,” he continued, and Donghyuck was startled to see his eyes fill up with tears. “I’m so tired. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I can’t…” He sobbed quietly.

He hadn’t seen Mark cry in so long. He never let his emotions get the best of him, especially when he was in idol mode. It was like he became someone else for a while and forgot about everything he was worrying about, but of course that didn't make the bad things disappear. He was good at that. Pretending he was okay.

He remembered when they were trainees, Mark always stayed at practice longer than anyone else, trying to get everything perfect. He never seemed to understand that perfect would never be in reach.

“Hey,” Donghyuck said, impulsively cupping Mark’s face with his hands. “Stop. It’s okay.”

“It’s not,” Mark said. Donghyuck wiped the tears off of his cheeks, but they kept coming. “I keep thinking— I don’t know.”

“What?” Donghyuck asked, brow furrowed.

Mark sniffled. “I don’t know. Just— everything is happening so fast and I don’t know what I’m doing and I can’t— I can’t stop— I don’t know.”

He was breathing too fast, one ragged breath between two sobs, and Donghyuck just wanted to make him stop. “Hey. Hey. You’re okay.”

“You must hate me,” Mark let out in between gasps, and Donghyuck shook his head, eyes wide.

“Mark.” Where had that come from?

“I’m—”

“Breathe, Mark. Just— Inhale. Exhale.” He kept repeating that, and Mark slowly started to match his rhythm. “That’s good. You’re okay. You’re okay.”

The sound of rain filtered in from the white noise machine. When Mark’s breathing was finally even, Donghyuck realized that they had come much closer, Mark’s face pushed into the junction of his neck and shoulder, his hands clutching the back of his shirt. Donghyuck was petting his head gently, his other hand still cupping Mark’s cheek. He had a sudden flashback to the two of them, ages 16 and 15, falling asleep on the saggy couch in the practice room, skinny limbs all tangled together, hair in mouths, so close that for a moment Donghyuck forgot he was one person. They were a single entity— four eyes, four legs, four ears. Their chests rose and fell in sync, Donghyuck’s forehead pressed into Mark’s shoulder and Mark’s legs entrapping his own. Donghyuck had tripped on the stairs the day before, and Mark was careful to avoid the bruises on his shins, even tired as he was.

How long had it been since they’d been like that? How had Donghyuck allowed himself to drift away, slowly but surely? Even now, warm bodies melded together, he didn't think they could ever go back. His heart ached at the thought. Mark always had an escape hatch open, like he was afraid of what they’d say if they talked too long about more than work.

Mark was breathing so heavily that for a moment Donghyuck thought he was asleep, but when he looked down to check, Mark’s eyes were open.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled into Donghyuck’s shirt, and the vibrations rumbled through his chest.

“Don’t be,” Donghyuck said. He didn't know what else to say. “Do you… wanna talk about it?”

He could feel Mark sigh against his skin. “Not really. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Donghyuck said, not wanting to push him.

There was a long moment of silence, and then: “I’m never going to fall asleep, and I’m going to die of exhaustion.”

Donghyuck laughed quietly despite himself, and Mark cracked a slight smile too. He was relieved. “No, you’re not.”

Mark leaned back to look Donghyuck in the eyes. His smile was gone. “I just don’t know what else to do. I take melatonin pills, but they haven’t been working.”

Donghyuck bit his lip. “Okay. Take one, and I’ll lay on the floor and talk about such boring things that you’ll have to fall asleep.”

“Why on the floor?”

“It’s harder to sleep with someone in your bed if they’re moving around. What if I have to scratch an itch and I wake you up?”

“Okay,” Mark said. He reached into the drawer of his bedside table to find a pill, and Donghyuck climbed out of bed and sat on the carpet, patiently waiting. A bunny plushie was snuggled between his arms, and he sat on a pillow for comfort. When Mark lay down again, the blanket pulled up to his chin, he started talking. It wasn’t loud, just barely enough for Mark to hear it over the sound of rain, but it was enough.

“Chenle made ramen for all of us yesterday. It took four packets and a huge pot. He was trying to decide if he was going to put in the flavor packets or not, cause apparently they’re unhealthy, and he said he wasn’t going to. But then Jisung wanted flavor, so he put a couple packets from different ramens in behind his back, but it turned out that Chenle had changed his mind and put in the flavor anyway, so the broth was way too salty.

“I heard this trick for cooking noodles is that you put a bunch of salt in the water while it’s boiling, and then the pasta will cook better, and you only use as much water as you really need, because then instead of draining the pasta, you just serve it from the pot and the noodles won’t stick together. But if you have leftovers, you have to put olive oil in or they’ll stick together anyway in the fridge.

“I split a clementine with Doyoung today. There was a bowl of them in the lobby and he took one to practice, and I stole it and was planning to eat it myself, but I gave him half as a show of charity. I think clementines are the best kind of oranges. They’re easy to peel, and small enough to be a good snack, so there’s not too much commitment. And they’re sweeter than other oranges. Sometimes if oranges aren’t ripe enough, they taste bitter.”

As he talked, he listened to Mark’s breathing. It was light and uneven at first, but as Donghyuck continued to monologue about nothing in particular, it began to deepen. He waited as long as he could to make sure he would stay asleep, but Mark eventually started to snore quietly.

He gradually lowered the volume of his speaking so he wouldn’t shock Mark and accidentally wake him up again, and then he stopped talking altogether.

He listened with a sharp ear, ready to start talking again if Mark began to wake up, but no change came. After a few very long minutes, he stood up, careful not to make any noise, and crept into the empty bed on the other side of the room.

Donghyuck was sweating by the time he was settled from all the energy needed to keep everything quiet, but he was finally in bed. And he was really tired, too, he realized.

His eyelids were too heavy to keep open, so Donghyuck let them fall closed.


End file.
